North Korea has freed three United States detainees and they are heading home with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.
“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Mr. Trump said he would be on hand when Mr. Pompeo’s three “guests” landed at the Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at 2 a.m. (11.30 a.m. IST) on May 10.
The release of the three — Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak-song — had been expected as a goodwill gesture amid preparations for a summit between Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Pompeo has a “good meeting” with Kim
Mr. Trump said Mr. Pompeo had a “good meeting” with Mr. Kim and that a date and place had been finalised for the summit, a historic encounter called to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
Despite years of hostility between Washington and Pyongyang, hundreds of Americans visited North Korea every year until the U.S. State Department finally issued a travel ban on the country last September.
Americans made the journey to North Korea for a range of reasons, from holidays and business trips to humanitarian work and missionary purposes.
Seoul is also pushing for the release of six South Koreans held by Pyongyang, including three defectors originally from North Korea, and three Christian missionaries — the first of whom was detained in 2013.
